Second World



Now that Jack knew what to look for, he had an easier time finding them. In the same time frame it took him to find the first tiny target, he had found another five.

Every time he hit a target, a nearby door or window would open. He would then find himself in a different place than before. Two things were constant though. The places he ended up in always had a maze layout, and the monstrous farmer was always there to chase him.

He kept tabs on the time with his mind. It should be five minutes since he left the safe room. At the pace he was going, he should be able to complete all ten targets before the time was up.

He had missed two times taking out the six targets. Added the one ball he used to shoot the farmer, he had eleven balls remaining. He only had four targets left, so he still had some to spare.

The time that he missed was because the farmer was too close to him. He lost his concentration when shooting and had to dodge the farmer's attacks.

Another thing he noticed, with each changing of places, the farmer was getting faster. By now, the farmer moved with a small jog. He did not doubt by the time he was hunting the tenth and final target, the farmer would be on a full-tilt run.

Jack left that worry for later. He focused on the matter at hand.

He continued using the same tactic. He kept the farmer at bay by monitoring its position via the sounds it made and moved accordingly based on the map in his mind, all the while paying attention to the small target along the hallways he passed.

One after another, he made it to the final maze. It was now the tenth one. One more and he should reach the room where Dina was. He had only four metal balls left now.

He wondered how the others were doing. There was a possibility that all of them stayed inside the safe rooms. He didn't blame them. It was unusual for someone to be willing to risk their life for another. Especially if that person was not even an actual friend, just someone whom they met due to circumstances.

In this way, he figured he was an unusual person to be willing to do so. He didn't regret it, though.

As for Master, Jack was sure that guy stayed cooped up inside the safe room, waiting for the ten minutes to pass.

This last maze was a garden maze. The wall was made up of hedges of leaves. Despite the appearance, the hedges were as solid as a concrete wall. Jack tried to push through these hedges and was unable to.

He checked the time in his mind. There were still around two minutes. It should be enough time as long as this maze was not too big.

'By the way, where is the far…,' His thought was interrupted by the sound of heavy and rapid footsteps.

He turned in the direction of the sound and saw it. As he expected, the farmer was running at full speed. In the maze before this, the farmer was already running, but it was the run of a heavy and slow person. This time, he ran with the agility of a tiger. It completely contradicted its huge frame.

Jack bolted at once. Luckily, his dexterity stat was extremely high. Hence, his running speed was still faster than the farmer's speed.

But at such a high-speed chase, he was having trouble thinking properly without his Hundred Synchronous Thoughts. He couldn't properly map the layout inside his mind. He just ran randomly and used the sound of the farmer's footsteps as a reference.

Because of this, a few times he was forced to go in the direction where he ended up getting close to the farmer. He had to turn back once he spotted the farmer appearing in the direction he was heading.

In this chaotic run, he also had trouble spotting the target. Time continued to tick. The clock in his mind told him that he almost ran out of time.

"No! No! No!" He panicked. He still couldn't spot the target. There was no more time!

In his hastiness, he ended up not hearing the farmer's footsteps and almost bumped into it as he turned the corner.

Any other person would have been shocked to a standstill, but Jack was someone who had gone through many unexpected situations. His body continued to move reflexively even when his mind went blank from the shock.

Jack bent his body back as the farmer's huge maul came swinging horizontally. His knees bent and he was now sliding forward on the ground from the momentum. The maul went past above him.

He pushed himself back to the running position once he went past the farmer. He couldn't believe he just ran past that monster.

When he glanced back to look at the farmer, he saw it then. The target! It was near the ground, slightly hidden by the hedge's leaves. It was even painted green this time, camouflaging with the leaves. Talked about increased difficulty. He only spotted it due to luck.

"F*ck the organizers. Do they want us to lose so bad?" Jack cursed.

He stopped running, the target was right between him and the farmer. The farmer had stopped after swinging his maul. He now turned to face Jack.

'No time to think!' Jack thought.

There was no time left. He couldn't lure the farmer away before circling back to this place. He had to take the risk. He ran toward the target while aiming at it. The farmer also started running toward him.

He cleared his mind. He couldn't afford to miss hitting the target at this critical moment. He let go of the ball and the tiny target was obliterated.

The hedge wall split apart after that, revealing a doorway.

"Go! Go! Go!" Peniel cheered.

"Not out of the wood yet!" Jack exclaimed as he armed another ball onto the slingshot.

The farmer was running at him at full speed. With its speed, it would reach the opened doorway before Jack. If it used its large frame to block that doorway, Jack wouldn't be able to pass.

Jack aimed and then fired.

The same as the first ball he fired, this one also struck the farmer's head with deadly accuracy. The farmer reeled as it was before, stopping its charge.

Jack was at full speed so he couldn't stop and made a sharp turn into the doorway. He jumped once he was close and gave the farmer, who had now stopped moving, a double kick. The farmer didn't budge from the kick, but that was never Jack's intention. The kick was to give him a bouncing power and he flew straight into the open doorway.